Your Google Search Just Got A Lot More ‘Personal’
- Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:38pm by
Liz Klimas
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SAN FRANCISCO (The Blaze/AP) — Google is sifting through the photos and commentary on its blossoming social network — Google+ — so its Internet search results can include more personal information.
The additional personal touches coming out Tuesday mark another step toward one of Google’s most ambitious goals. The Internet search leader eventually hopes to know enough about each of its users so it can tailor its results to fit the unique interests of each person looking for something.
(Image: Google Blog)
Watch Google’s video announcement of the new feature “Search, plus Your World”:
Different people should start seeing different search results more frequently now that Google Inc. is importing content from its 6-month-old Plus service, a product that the company introduced in an attempt to counter the popularity of Facebook‘s online hangout and Twitter’s short-messaging hub. Google’s main search results page also will start highlighting more content from an older online photo service called Picasa.
Facebook and Twitter pose a threat to Google because they don‘t allow Google’s search engine to log the avalanche of photos, links and observations tumbling through those services. That‘s troublesome to Google because its search engine could become less useful if its system can’t analyze what people are signaling is important to them so those preferences can be factoring into the results.
Google is tackling that challenge with an addition to its results called “Search, plus your world.”
The feature will be automatically turned on beginning Tuesday for all English-language searches made by users logged into Google. Turning off the personal results permanently will require changing a setting in Google’s personal preferences. The personal results can also be excluded on a search-by-search basis by clicking on an icon of the globe on the results page (the personal results will be denoted by a button featuring a human’s silhouette).
(Image: Google Blog)
In a blog post by Google Fellow Amit Singhal explains that these three areas will be affected by the new feature:
- Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
- Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
- People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.
If the new formula works as Google expects, the search results will include pertinent information culled from the requestor’s Plus account. For instance, a query about the San Francisco 49ers might include links and comments made about the football team by other people in one of the social circles on the user’s Plus account. A search request that includes the name of a dog owned by the user or a friend might turn up photos of the pet that have been posted on Plus and Picasa.
“This is going to open up a whole new avenue in search,” said Ben Gomes, a Google fellow.
The LA Times reports SearchEngineLand’s editor-in-chief Danny Sullivan as calling this “one of the most significant things Google has ever done in search”:
“Until now we have not had the mixture of our personal information with our Web search results, and that makes even me a bit nervous,” Sullivan said.
Google isn’t the first to do this. Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine has been mining some of the preferences and other information shared on Facebook since May. But Google’s emphasis on more personal results figures to attract more attention because its search engine is so dominant. It handles about two-thirds of the Internet search requests made in the U.S. while Bing processes less than one-third, including the activity that it comes through a partnership with Yahoo Inc.
Facebook, though, has greater insights into personal tastes. That’s because its nearly 8-year-old social network boasts more than 800 million users who share more than 1.5 billion photos alone each week. In October, Google said Plus had more than 40 million users. Google hasn’t updated the information since then, although some external studies have estimated Plus began the new year with 60 million to 70 million users.
Some of Google’s changes may help prod more people into joining Plus. As part of Tuesday’s expansion, the profile pictures of Plus accountholders will appear in the drop-down suggestions on Google’s search box. In another twist, searches on general topics such as “music” and “sports,” will generate suggestions on people, companies and places that have Plus accounts.
While Google is hoping the addition of more personal results will make its search engine even more useful, the changes also could spook some people as they realize how much information is being compiled about them. Google tried to minimize privacy concerns by recently switching to technology that encrypts all its search results to protect the information from slipping out.
Previous privacy missteps by both Google and Facebook resulted in both companies entering into settlements with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The FTC agreements require Google and Facebook to submit to external audits of their privacy practices every other year.
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Comments (41)
dopie joe
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 3:17pmThe only search engine, Ixquick HTTPS https://ixquick.com/eng/aboutixquick/
Report Post »mr. carbon footprint
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 11:38amWant to see how much they track you every time you just visit a website? Download Ghostery dot com. It’s free and safe.
Report Post »It not only blocks the tracking cookies but shows you a list of them. Very scary. It found 14 different trackers alone on the blaze. I’m sure that once TPTB wise up to it that one of them will “acquire” Ghostery and either squash it or fine tune it…. The internet sucks these days.
Spread the word.
kevinj319
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:51amOh great.
I am a tech savvy person, and some of the most frustrating technology moments, for me, come when the device does what some programmer THINKS I want it to do, and not what I actually TELL it to do.
Google search just needs to search.
Report Post »bigdaddyt46
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:34amthat‘s why i don’t use google at all anymore, not even gmail. i’m not on any of the social networks even closed down my youtube page. all of it is far left. i only use yahoo(which is far left) because i handle all of my mom’s finances ect. being totally dependent on email now because nowadays you can’t do too much of anything without a computer or email. not even applying for a job is safe from email based process. we need to start a conservative email service lol
Report Post »TrooperTyree
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 5:54amOh look! The Creepy Line. It’s moved again!
Report Post »scrapadapolis
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 3:58amWhy is my kiddy porn prompts leading me to a shrink?Well Glenn Beck told us of google last year..Duh..I swear this man should be a walking god..How soon you people forget.
Report Post »Mom_of_5
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 10:10pmI always use webcrawler. I have never had a problem with it. I don’t know if
Report Post »google can track me there or not, but that is what I use.
sarcasticus
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 8:17pmEverybody, go to startpage dot com when you do searches. They don’t keep your data, they don’t save your information, they don’t do data mining. Check it out, spread the word. And no, I’m not spamming for them. I just like it enough to mention it here.
Report Post »qzak491
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 10:20pmSTART PAGE is enhanced by GOOGLE, it’s GOOGLE.
Report Post »ssbstspd
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 7:51pmhungry4info
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:46pm
Same here. Once I discovered google was auto-filling in my search for me and causing me to backspace repeatedly to type in what I intended. I immediately looked up how to get it back to the way it was… some things just don’t need to be changed. Especially to do more data mining so I can be labeled as something, just because I was curious and clicked a link.\
Hey, how did you change it back ? I hate it and have been trying to change it since they started it. I just can’t figure it out.
Report Post »Dumbwhiteguy
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 7:01pmDoes anybody know how to post on Facebook?
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:38pmThe internet used to be cool back in the early to mid 90′s and before. Greed and commerce has really fkd it up.
Report Post »XavierD
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 7:43pmRemember when we feared domination by Microsoft? Aw, the markets at work. Apple is off its death bed, collecting our personal info. A new kid on the block, who promises to do no evil, is also collecting everything about us. Actually, now that I think about it, I miss the days when I only had to worry about Microsoft…..
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:04pmI HATE logging into Google. I only do it for YouTube. YouTube FORCED ME to use a Google log in in order to log in one day, but had a second box saying I didn’t have to. Everytime I used the second ox, it REFUSED it, leaving me with no choice if I wanted to get into my YouTube account. Now Google has invaded my provacy and linked my YouTube account with my Google account, which I hadn’t used in years because I never really wanted it (another “had to” have it to use something else situation).
Now when I tried to change some personal info on my YouTube panel, it said I was logged in through Google (DUH). I dont’ want to change the info now since both are linked, and WHY tell me I am logged in that way? I see NO WAY to log into YouTube without a Google account.
Google‘s next steps aren’t too far from my bedroom. Way, way too personal And now this? Thank goodness I am not logged in when searching, because this new “idea” from Google would actualy make their search engine useless to me. But Google already knows what continent and what zip code I’m searching freom, so it’s only a matter of time before they set up some way to know what street, what name, etc.
Big Brother’s twin brother.
Report Post »Ramv36
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 10:32pmThe login shenanigans you speak of occurred because Google bought YouTube and now runs it as an extension of google.com.
Report Post »TrooperTyree
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 5:50amHate to make it harder to sleep at night, but a while back Google had a fleet of vans that they used for recording localized IP information in order to “improve the quality of search” they provided – it got called out because they were essentially able to spy on any individual in a wide range of ways.
I don’t know if they started that fleet up again, but they don’t need it in order to track what each individual IP searches through them and which of their services you log onto.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 5:46pmThis is why I am using Bing only or go to my old standby Alta Vista.
Report Post »Fitz Gerald
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:43pmI suppose Bill Gates and Microsoft are more trustworthy source with bing. (Note total sarcasm)
Report Post »Oldtexan in support of Israel
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 5:45pmGuess I will be one of the first ones to go to the reeducation camp – going to be there a long time it’s hard to teach an old dog a new trick. Yes I love freedom, personal responsibility, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Report Post »FaithfulFriend
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 5:24pmIt‘s not an active feature unless you’re logged into your Google account when searching. Don’t like it? It‘s easy to turn off or just don’t log in.
It’s easy unless your dumb or filled with fear. These technologies will make a slave out of you anyway. I should know. I am one.
Report Post »ssbstspd
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 7:42pmI just opened a gmail account for email only. Spam got to my other email and its just time for a new one. I find this article very interesting. I like to delete my browsing history including cookies browsing history and add ons daily. What is very strange is no matter how many times I do that. Google has me logged in automatic on their site. Im talking google.com not gmail.com even though that is the same technically. No other website’s have my account name or password after deleting the internet history except google, which has it no matter what. No matter how many times I delete my history. SO1. FaithfulFriend
Report Post »maybe you should look into how dumb you might be because it is not that easy to log out. And plus they are more then likely to catch you slipping up if you often go to google to make searches. This seems very very shady to me. I wish I never would have opened that gmail account. Very Very spooky.
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 5:08pmThey call it what they want, it’s still just a way to make more money by getting you to click on websites to see advertising. I quit using Google search several years ago.
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:26pmAnd this kind of profiling is exactly why I use NoScript script blocker, and do NOT allow google to run scripts on my computer. Nor do I allow googleapis, or any of the other google trackers. I also do not allow facebook, and in fact I actually use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox exclusively for checking my facebook.
We need to start getting more people involved in relaying data through undernet services like the Tor network. The government(Google has THREE NSA contracts that they won’t disclose the contents of), or private companies have no right to track you.
Report Post »OutOfTheAether
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 5:10pm@URBANCOMBATSURVIVOR You’re implying IE is safer to access Facebook that Firefox. What does IE do (or NOT do) to make it safer? Am truly interested in the technical details
Report Post »Mr Sanders
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:18pmYou don’t need the NSA, or the Server farms of the Government, you got Google, Facebook, Twitter…. the greatest open exchange of your personal life & information in history….. and we gladly signup for it in jest and entertainment.
The problem out in the biz landscape is you may trust who’s in the CEO seat at the time – its the one’s afterwards you have to worry about. GE run by Immelt is vastly different than under Welch. Disney was different under Walt than current Iger.
When you’re liberal you live in somewhat of an out-of-phased reality where its either total control or living like, “no one would do such a thing, now would they. Go back to sleep.” Where the Normalcy Bias… is the norm….. everyday.
I think this just means to diligent, be educated about whom services, owns, contributes to the favorite search engine of choice, or with anything in business or personal lives these days. Careful and questioning is better than being “owned”…. so to speak.
Report Post »Commerce Exchange
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:20pmgoogle plus is a rough product to say the least has no cool factor. and yes Social media has taken over, for the masses it does not mean that quality searches cannot be found on google, yahoo, bing and others. But the sad reality was that organic searches became a monopoly of the big few.
Report Post »for those who want to check the most unexpected eventss in Social media 2012 go to:
http://www.ecomm-unity.com/forum/topics/10-social-media-events-to-expect-on-2012
Kaoscontrol
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:44pmInteresting and kinda funny!
Report Post »fakeid200
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:03pmShadow government and they are tracking and recording all we do. I just hope my fakeid will help keep me safe. But I bet they still know who I am!
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:26pmI don’t care anymore.
The more public, the better. Then they can’t kill you or disappear you without everyone knowing.
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:20pmOH yeah, and what exactly will “Everybody” do about it even if they know? We’re just one tank away from running over own own citizens. Just one Obama Night of the Long Knives away from hushing political dissent. I‘d like to say we’re one dictator away from a dictatorship, but that part — TOO LATE.
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:54pmNot for long! With Blazers boycotting Google (and Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, PBS, Comcast, Disney, Starbucks, Dominoes, The NY Times, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, GE, Time Magazine, Coca Cola, Nike, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Comedy Central, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Ben & Jerry’s, Hollywood Movies, AOL, Time Warner, eBay and just about anything else Glenn Beck can imagine) they won’t be in business much longer. Power to the People!!
Report Post »IMPEACHBHO
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:53pmNo thanks.
Report Post »Alecto
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:51pmGoogle was started by Satan.
Report Post »Kaoscontrol
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:45pmSatan is funded by George Soros.
Report Post »Phoneguy
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:50pmThey are to involved with the Government for me, sound like limiting the search a bit, not good is my thoughts.
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:30pmUse script blockers and they can no longer effectively track you.
NoScript is my choice, but there are others…
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:49pmDamn google thinks I’m a hacker that is into white slavery, weird.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:46pmThis is why I don’t want to go to social networks and do anything.
If Google starts finding results based on your social groupings and things like that, then you aren’t getting all the results. I can see it eventually narrowing people’s views. I like searching for something and finding all sorts of things, some I like and some crap. I want to do my own decision making about what is crap and what is not.
Report Post »hungry4info
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 4:46pmSame here. Once I discovered google was auto-filling in my search for me and causing me to backspace repeatedly to type in what I intended. I immediately looked up how to get it back to the way it was… some things just don’t need to be changed. Especially to do more data mining so I can be labeled as something, just because I was curious and clicked a link.
Report Post »certified ethical hacker
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 5:32pmever use dog pile? Why does it seem like there is a huge filter of information? It seems like every year it is harder to get certain information and when you look for some things something opposite comes up? I bet that does not make much to many of you right LOL?
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